štúdia:

International migration; international workforce mobility; life course; de-standardization; transition to adulthood; globalisation; family trajectory

The Interrelatedness of International Migration and De-standardization of Life Course. During the years of transformation after 1989 the Czech Republic began to be incorporated into the structures of international institutions and became opened to the influences of the processes of globalization. In this context international labour migration occurred as a new possibility in life course of Czech citizens. From some perspectives the migration is seen as a mean of de-standardization of life course. This article analyzes the interrelatedness of international workforce mobility and de-standardization of life course. Based on qualitative in-depth interviews with current migrants, the article shows how international migration influences individual phases (leaving parental home, completing education, entering labour market, marriage and parenthood) of the process of transition to adulthood.
Sociológia 2011, Vol. 43 (No. 1: 5-27)

Family forms; change in family structure; family policy; demographic development; regional differences

Pluralisation of Family Forms in Slovakia as a Subject-Matter of Demographic Analysis: The Regional Perspective. Post-communist countries have been confronted with considerable social, political and cultural challenges since 1989. These strongly affect family structures besides other things and Slovakia is not an exception. The process of family formation may be influenced by various factors, such as current family policy without former strongly motivating benefits, new opportunities that young people face nowadays (such as studying and working abroad), spread and availability of hormonal contraceptives and by many others. The study presents an overview of typical new forms of family and partnership arrangements – unmarried cohabitations, one-parent families, singles and homosexual partnerships. Each of them is described by relevant demographic indicators and by development of their year-rates throughout the twenty-year post-revolutionary period from 1990 to 2009. Data, which are presented in charts, come from Population and Housing Census and from annual population statistics. As the demographic trends significantly vary in the regions of Slovakia, each indicator is completed by main trends in the particular locality and by highlighting the most probable reasons for a different regional development. Generally speaking, the northern regions of Slovakia seem to be more traditional with rare occurrence of above-mentioned family and partnership forms, while the central, southern and western ones appear rich in number of them. The author also briefly shows the potential for creating proper social policy measures and for introducing legislation to react to these changes.
Sociológia 2011, Vol. 43 (No. 1: 28-56)

Microfinance: An Alternative Tool for Alleviating Roma Poverty in the Marginalized Regions. There is a gap in the microfinance literature on microsavings as a form of microfinance; and their impact on clients, microenterprises, households, communities, and financial institutions. Microfinance arises as a new tool in developing as well as developed countries. It is widely known since the 1970’s and often connected with the name of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. The aim of the paper is to analyze effects of microsavings programs on well-being of poor households participating in microsavings program in Eastern Slovakia. According to the results active and successful clients perceive positive change in level of their household management and they perceive their ability to manage household better than unsuccessful clients. Furthermore, active and successful clients perceive positive subjective change in quality of living and they perceive higher level of overall quality of living than unsuccessful clients. Based on a sample of 112 households from three towns (Ostrovany, Stará Ľubovňa and Moldava nad Bodvou) subjective perception and objective change in well-being of households are assessed and it is argued that the programs have positive effects on poverty and contribute to poverty alleviation.
Sociológia 2011, Vol. 43 (No. 1: 57-88)